October 30, 2007

Veto-happy Bush chides do-little Congress

> Posted by William Gibson on October 30, 2007 01:00 PM

President Bush had the chutzpah today to chide Congress for ``not getting its work done’’ after effectively blocking much of what it has tried to accomplish.

Of course, Democrats are playing the same game in reverse, accusing Bush of standing in the way of progress by vetoing or threatening to veto the more controversial measures on the congressional agenda, including some of special importance to South Florida.

These include an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which would nearly double the number uninsured children in Florida who would be covered through SCHIP over five years. Bush vetoed that bill and threatens to veto a revised version passed by the House.

Bush also plans to veto a long-awaited water-projects bill, which would authorize spending on Everglades restoration. Gov. Charlie Crist and Florida members of both parties have urged him to sign the bill before rising land prices and other costs mount up.

The administration also opposes attempts by South Florida Congressmen Ron Klein and Tim Mahoney to create a national catastrophe fund to ease the cost of homeowner insurance in storm-prone Florida.

Neither Bush nor Democratic leaders want to compromise, so Washington has returned to stalemate politics and partisan finger-pointing.

``Congress is not getting its work done,'' Bush said today. ``We're near the end of the year, and there really isn't much to show for it.’’

Democrats have not helped break the logjam.

They tried to force a troop withdrawal plan on the White House before giving up and moving on to domestic issues. They pushed through an SCHIP bill that amounted to veto-bait, though some Republicans in Congress and administration officials indicated they would be willing to compromise.

Democrats still hope to override Bush’s veto of the water-projects bill.

So far, neither side can claim much progress. The House has passed substantive legislation only to see it bog down in the Senate or get vetoed. Bush’s second-term agenda is in tatters. Neither side has the political strength to overcome the other.

Hope for consensus emerged over the weekend when members of both parties in Congress began quiet negotiations to get an SCHIP bill passed and signed into law. That program probably will continue in a slightly expanded form.

Prospects are dim, though, for resolving other controversies. Many members are getting frustrated. And the dismally low approval ratings for Bush and Congress show the public is getting frustrated too.

October 25, 2007

Rudy rises in Florida

> Posted by William Gibson on October 25, 2007 02:37 PM

Rudy Giuliani’s vigorous performance at the Florida Republican convention and televised debate last weekend improved his prospects for winning the state’s GOP presidential primary and its electoral votes next year.

Giuliani has taken a slight lead in Florida over Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to a poll of 1,025 statewide voters conducted during and after the convention by Quinnipiac University.

The poll showed Giuliani leading Clinton by 46 percent to 43 percent in a hypothetical matchup, reversing the results of a similar poll two weeks earlier.

The difference is still within the poll’s margin of error, and the results mostly just show how close the election will be in Florida. Nevertheless, it indicates that Giuliani helped his cause with a strong showing in Orlando.

Striding across the stage and right up to his audience like a wandering Oprah, the former New York mayor talked the talk of Floridians. His frequent references to the state while addressing the convention crowd on Saturday showed the benefits of having traveled to Florida 17 times since the first of the year.

At the debate on Sunday, he reinforced those advantages even while addressing a national television audience.

Giuliani praised Florida for deciding the 2000 election by putting the White House in Republican hands. ``Thank you, Florida. You saved us in 2000,’’ Giuliani said. ``That was a big one.’’

He also chided the Democratic candidates for avoiding Florida this year because of a party flap over the state’s early primary.

``I'd also like to note, on behalf of all my Republican colleagues,
we're not going to boycott Florida the way the Democrats are,’’ Giluiani said. ``We're going to be here, campaigning for your vote.’’

Clinton and other Democratic candidates were not around to rebut these remarks, and they will be absent this coming weekend when the state Democratic Party holds its convention in Orlando.

The Democratic candidates, in fact, avoid even mentioning Florida while on the campaign trail for fear of offending voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, who jealously soak up all their attention during the early contests.

Other Republican candidates, meanwhile, did not fully exploit their Florida exposure. They gave the same stock speeches they deliver anywhere.

Fred Thompson, who runs second among Republicans in Florida and national polls, disappointed the crowd with a short, curt speech on Saturday devoid of substance.

Mitt Romney, another frequent visitor to the state, did bring several of his Florida supporters on stage, including Al Cardenas, former state GOP chairman. But he seemed to have little to say specifically to a Florida audience.

John McCain, who looked tired and sounded bitter, chided Florida Senator Mel Martinez for making a terse introductory speech. ``Thank you for that long and glowing introduction,’’ McCain said sarcastically. ``I used to think we were friends.’’

None of the candidates, including Giuliani, addressed Florida’s special concerns, such as high insurance rates, offshore drilling and preservation of the Everglades. We may as well have been debating in Iowa.

Anyway, as Woody Allen says, 80 percent of life is showing up, and all the major Republican candidates showed up in Florida, unlike the Democrats. For what it’s worth this early in the race, Giuliani made the best impression, and it showed in the latest poll.

A frustrated American dream

> Posted by William Gibson on October 25, 2007 12:01 AM

A backlash to illegal immigration continues to prevail in Congress, where Florida members have been frustrated in their attempts to open a path to citizenship for foreign residents now living in the shadows of the law.

The latest example came on a procedural vote in the Senate on Wednesday that blocked consideration of the DREAM Act. The bill would give some children of illegal immigrants under age 16 legal status so they can serve in the military or go to college.

A majority in the Senate supported consideration of the bill on a vote of 52 to 44, but they needed 60 votes to move it forward. The measure now appears doomed in this session of Congress.

Florida Senators Mel Martinez, a Republican, and Bill Nelson, a Democrat, voted for consideration of the bill.

Martinez especially takes a personal interest in the measure. He came to this country legally at age 15, smuggled out of Cuba through a Catholic Church program known as Pedro Pan.

He found himself in the strange new world of Orlando with little knowledge of English but a determination to get an education and improve himself. His rise to become a member of President Bush’s Cabinet and now a U.S. senator is a leading example of the American dream.

But Martinez, the only immigrant in the Senate, was unable to persuade enough of his colleagues to pass a comprehensive immigration bill last spring that would have boosted immigration enforcement while giving an estimated 12 million undocumented residents a chance for legal status. And his personal testimony was not enough to persuade 60 of them to support the DREAM Act.

Opponents say the bill would be just one more encouragement for illegal entries.

``The last thing we should do, if we want to curtail illegal immigration, is to give financial benefits – such as in-state tuition, subsidized loans and access to work-study programs – to those who entered illegally,’’ said Senator Jeff Sessions, a Republican from Alabama. ``I do not believe we should reward illegal activity with every right and benefit of American citizenship.’’

For Martinez and many immigrants in Florida, the Senate’s inaction simply amounts to stifling the American dream. Meanwhile, the large illegal population in South Florida and elsewhere will continue to live in legal limbo.

October 24, 2007

Cracking down on Cuba

> Posted by William Gibson on October 24, 2007 12:01 AM

Cuba-watchers once speculated that the new Democratic majority in Congress would ease the U.S. embargo of Cuba this year by removing some restrictions on American travel to the island. But that effort has stalled, while the Bush administration wants to clamp down even more.

President Bush today will unveil measures designed to put international pressure on the Cuban government.

``The President will call on the world to come together and to support the people of Cuba in their growing support for democracy in the region,’’ White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters on Tuesday.

``One of the things the president will talk about is that the Cubans are prohibited by their government from participating in things that all of us have come to take for granted -- owning a business or having access to the Internet.’’

Bush will press Cuba to open up the Internet to Cuban students, and he will urge the international community to contribute to a ``Freedom Fund’’ to help rebuild the island once it embraces democracy.

In a speech to be delivered at the State Department, Bush will offer to license private groups and faith-based organizations to send computers to Cuban students, but only if the Cuban government allows them access to the Internet.

Bush’s gambit stems from his belief that exposure to news and information outside of Cuba will encourage a democratic movement.

The president also will invite Cuban students to participate in a hemisphere-wide scholarship program that would allow them to travel outside their country.

The speech fulfills promises to Cuban-Americans, several of whom will attend the ceremonial event. These include Senator Mel Martinez and Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart.

Meanwhile, proposals to ease travel restrictions are on hold in Congress. Democratic leaders have turned to other issues while Bush continues his crackdown.

October 23, 2007

Hillary won GOP debate

> Posted by William Gibson on October 23, 2007 12:01 AM

Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose name was mud at the Florida Republican convention last weekend, dominated the nationally televised GOP debate on Sunday night just by being talked about as the most likely Democratic nominee for president next year.

Some rank-and-file Republicans privately fear the drone of Hillary-bashing from GOP candidates may backfire by alienating woman voters.

It’s not that Clinton is a delicate flower who should rise above criticism. She’s a big girl and certainly knows how to play the political game, including launching attacks of her own.

Clinton is a more aggressive player than her husband Bill and helped carry out their rapid-response strategy in the 1990s. That amounted to delivering swift counter-punches whenever political opponents attacked Bill Clinton -- a barrage she once decried as part of a ``vast right-wing conspiracy.’’

Nevertheless, Republican attacks on Hillary long before the Democratic nominee has been determined seem like vicious demonizing to voters who take pride in seeing an independent woman run for president. Even some voters who are non-fans of Clinton take offense.

Wisely or not, these attacks are bound to continue for months.

Republicans have concluded that Clinton will be their opponent. They have long practice using Clinton-bashing as a rallying cry and fund-raising tool. They are exploiting her reputation as a polarizing figure, and it will be hard to get out of the habit.

The question is whether this strategy will help their cause with Republican moderates, independents and women of all parties.

October 22, 2007

Dubya ignored by Florida GOP

> Posted by William Gibson on October 22, 2007 12:01 AM

The GOP is the party of Lincoln and the party of Reagan.

It’s also the party of George W. Bush, but you wouldn’t know it at the state Republican convention in Orlando this weekend. Rarely was the president’s name even mentioned by party activists who gathered to rally their forces and hear from the candidates who hope to replace him.

Lincoln, yes. Reagan, again and again. Goldwater, even. The president’s brother Jeb is recalled fondly, though the former governor is not at the convention dubbed Presidency IV.

It wasn’t always this way. When the president was riding high in public approval ratings, his name was invoked frequently to loud applause at Republican conventions. But his plunge to dismally low ratings amid the unpopular war in Iraq has made him a forgotten figure. The candidates make a point of avoiding references to Bush unless asked about him.

On the other hand, Hillary Rodham Clinton gets a lot of mentions. The Democratic front-runner’s name is invoked whenever the Republican candidates and other speakers want to scare the party faithful and elicit boos.

You would think that Clinton had already sealed the Democratic nomination. Republicans assume she will be their opponent, and they have long experience attacking her and her husband.

October 21, 2007

Crist underwhelms GOP faithful

> Posted by William Gibson on October 21, 2007 08:00 AM

Gov. Charlie Crist is the top Republican in Florida, but his tendency to reach out to Democrats in the spirit of non-partisanship underwhelmed the GOP faithful at a state confab this weekend.

Crist’s speech to a gathering of party leaders and activists in Orlando, called Presidency IV, was met with respectful but relatively tepid applause. When former Gov. Jeb Bush addressed similar party gatherings in past years, his more strident pitch to the party’s conservative base drew roars.

Republicans like the fact that Crist has become a popular figure. But many would rather hear a more rousing pitch stressing conservative values.

Crist’s high approval ratings statewide stem in part from a willingness to work with Democrats and seek common ground, which endears him to independents and the loyal opposition. Crist, for example, has been quick to bash insurance companies and to provide a verifiable paper-trail at the ballot box – causes long championed by Democrats.

Crist was unbowed by the tepid response on Saturday.

``I’m not that partisan,’’ he told reporters, ``but I’m a proud Republican.’’

October 20, 2007

GOP candidates descend on Florida

> Posted by William Gibson on October 20, 2007 08:01 AM

The spotlight will shine on Republicans in Florida this weekend when the GOP presidential candidates descend on Orlando to rally state party leaders while reaching out to all voters through a nationally televised debate.

Immigration may be the most likely flashpoint. Long-shot candidate Tom Tancredo has built his campaign around enforcement-only ways to curb illegal immigration, while John McCain defends his attempt at ``comprehensive reform,’’ which includes giving the undocumented a chance to get legal.

This is an especially tricky issue in Florida, an immigration-friendly state where many Republican voters are Cuban-Americans sympathetic to foreigners who seek legal status. Yet many other Republican voters strongly oppose attempts by McCain and Florida Senator Mel Martinez to allow illegals to ``earn’’ their way to legal status.

The candidates will make their pitch to the party faithful on Saturday, where their strength will be tested on an informal applause-o-meter. The debate will be broadcast on Fox News Channel from 8 to 9:30 p.m. on Sunday.

It’s just another round in a numbing series of debates, but this one may have something special for Florida.

October 19, 2007

Back to veto politics

> Posted by William Gibson on October 19, 2007 01:01 AM

These are frustrating times for those who want their government to get something done.

Democratic voters figured they would see big changes now that their party has taken control of Congress. But divided government – a Republican White House and a Democratic Congress – has led to a constant standoff.

The impasse over SCHIP -- the children’s health insurance program – is a perfect example of the political tug of war, where neither side has the strength to prevail. As a result, a popular program due to expire next month is in jeopardy.

Some voters like to split their ballots on the hope that each party will check the other. It’s true that giving unlimited power to either party could be hazardous. But government by gridlock has its own disadvantages, especially for those who want a new direction.

Democrats were unable to sway Bush on Iraq policy, though pressure from Congress may make him somewhat more willing to draw down troops over the remainder of his term. Even some lower hanging fruit, like raising the minimum wage, was achieved after long delays and great difficulty.

Bush never needed veto power when Republicans controlled Congress. He pushed through big tax cuts despite resistance from most Democrats. Now that Democrats have taken control of Congress, he has wielded the veto pen four times and never been overridden.

Much of Bush’s second term amounts to fending off actions by Congress, just as former President Bill Clinton spent much of his time in office blocking the `Republican Revolution.’ Clinton was a great counter-puncher, and Bush also has been good on defense despite dwindling public support.

But Democrats think they may have an answer this time. They have not given up their quest to overcome Bush’s veto of an expanded SCHIP.

They fell 13 votes short of a veto-proof, two-thirds majority on Thursday, but they will keep trying. Their plan is to huddle with moderate Republicans and tweak the bill just enough to get those 13 votes.

``We’re on the right side,’’ says South Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a chief deputy House whip. ``The president needs to come to us.’’

No matter how it comes out, Democrats will make the case to voters next year that they need to win the White House to fulfill their agenda. And Republican leaders will rouse their conservative base to try to block it.

Cracking down on child cyber-porn

> Posted by Staff Writer on October 17, 2007 05:07 PM

She promoted a bill today that would create a new investigations unit at the Department of Justice to track down offenders and ``put them away.''

The bill revives a cause once led by disgraced former congressman Mark Foley, the West Palm Beach Republican who abruptly resigned just before last year's elections. Foley's fulminations against child porn became the epitome of hypocrisy when the world learned he had been sending e-mails to House pages and interns full of sexual references and over-familiar questions.

Before his fall from grace, Foley pushed a bill through Congress strengthening penalties for child predators, and he had proposed other legislation to curb pornographic child modeling. He routinely sent out over-heated press releases in bold capital letters warning against CHILD PREDATORS! But when Foley self-destructed, the cause lay fallow for a time.

Wasserman Schultz, the mother of three young children, has taken up the slack by pushing a bill backed by parent groups and advocates for missing and exploited children.

The legislation would authorize $1.05 billion over the next eight years to:

- Establish a grant program as part of an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The program would funnel funds to local agencies to investigate cyber-crime.

October 16, 2007

Cash in hand, Mahoney not so vulnerable

> Posted by William Gibson on October 16, 2007 12:01 AM

Conventional wisdom once held that South Florida Congressman Tim Mahoney was the most vulnerable Democrat in the House, almost sure to be a one-term wonder.

Yet now it appears he will run a strong race for re-election in his Republican-leaning district, which includes northern Palm Beach County and seven other counties.

Mahoney reported raising $450,142 in the third quarter, bringing his total for the year to more than $1.4 million. With about $1.1 million of cash in hand, Mahoney has a sizable purse for his re-election campaign next year.

The Cook Political Report, a respected handicapper of congressional contests, now lists the race as ``leans Democratic’’ – meaning it's competitive, but the incumbent has an edge.

That’s surprising considering that Mahoney just barely won office last year by a margin of 4,519 votes despite amazing advantages.

He replaced disgraced Congressman Mark Foley, a Republican who resigned and disappeared into rehab after batches of e-mails revealed creepy computer contacts with House pages and interns.

The Foley scandal rocked the GOP leadership, undermined the Republican image of probity, turned off the Religious Right and helped spur Democrats to majority control of Congress.

Mahoney went from long-shot challenger to political celebrity, the darling of national talk shows. His prospects brightened further when Republicans were unable to get Foley’s name off the ballot. That left Joe Negron, a popular Republican from Stuart, to run under the name of a scandal-blighted pariah.

Despite all this, Negron almost won the seat. Mahoney looked like a freshman headed for two years and out.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the chopping block. Democratic leaders rallied around Mahoney. He got coveted assignments on the Agriculture Committee, which is important for his rural constituents, and on the Financial Services Committee, which deals with insurance.

Mahoney, along with fellow freshman Ron Klein, was assigned to draft legislation to create a national insurance plan to help homeowners find affordable coverage in storm-prone areas, a popular cause in hurricane-wracked Florida.

The powers of incumbency, even if it’s only two years worth, are bound to give Mahoney a boost.

So don’t count him out. The most vulnerable freshman appears to have a good chance in 2008, which looks to be a good year for Democrats.

Skirting Armenian genocide

> Posted by William Gibson on October 16, 2007 12:01 AM

Telling uncomfortable truths can be risky business in world affairs, especially when an alleged culprit is a U.S. ally straddling Europe and the Middle East.

With this in mind, South Florida congressmen Alcee Hastings and Robert Wexler will urge House leaders today to steer clear of a controversial resolution that accuses the old Ottoman Empire of committing genocide when an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed around 1915.

These two Democrats, along with many others in Congress and the Bush administration, fear a backlash from leaders in Turkey, who acknowledge widespread deaths of Armenians but angrily deny it amounted to genocide.
In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the congressmen say they ``in no way diminish the suffering and tragedy of the Armenian people under the Ottoman Empire, whose memory burns in the hearts and minds of their descendants.’’
But the resolution, they warn, ``would have serious consequences for the United States’ important relationship with modern-day Turkey, a strong NATO ally; and threaten our operations and our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.’’

``We urge you to not bring the resolution before the House for a vote at this critical time for our men and women in uniform in the region, and for the stability of the Middle East,’’ they concluded.

Turkey already has recalled its ambassador to the United States to protest congressional consideration of the resolution.

Advice from Wexler and Hastings is significant, since they are considered experts on foreign policy and exert influence on Speaker Pelosi. Wexler is perhaps the most traveled member of the House while serving on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Hastings is chairman of the Helsinki Commission, which focuses on human rights, while serving on the House intelligence committee.

Who would have thought a non-binding resolution about an event nearly a century ago would cause so much anguished debate. For Turkey and Armenians, it remains a deadly serious matter.

October 13, 2007

What if Al Gore had won Florida?

> Posted by William Gibson on October 13, 2007 12:01 AM

Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize for drawing the world’s attention to global warming shows how far his stature has risen since losing the absurdly close 2000 election.

The political world came to think of Gore as a big loser – or a ``sore loser’’ in the minds of George Bush fans. It didn’t help Gore’s image when he picked the wrong horse in the 2004 campaign by endorsing Howard Dean just before Dean’s notorious scream and sudden collapse in the Democratic race.

Now Gore’s a Nobel laureate, a wonkish celebrity basking in worldwide fame, a teller of inconvenient truths and an environmental sage. More than a few Americans are pressing him to run again for president.

``Future generations will thank him for his work to save our way of life,’’ Dean said on Friday.

Gore’s revival raises one of the big ``what if…’’ questions in recent history: ``What if all the ballots had been correctly counted in Florida and Al Gore won the presidency?’’ Considering the infamous butterfly ballot in Palm Beach County, maybe a better way to put it is: ``What if all the ballots had been counted the way voters intended?’’

We know Gore won the ``popular vote’’ nationwide by a margin of half-a-million votes while losing the electoral vote. We suspect that several thousand voters in Palm Beach County supported Gore but mistakenly cast their ballots for Pat Buchanan, of all people, because of ballot confusion.

An exhaustive recounting of all the ballots in Florida by a newspaper consortium, including the Sun-Sentinel, in 2001 indicated that Gore should have won.

None of that matters, since Bush officially won under the rules as reviewed by the Supreme Court. That’s how the system works. But it does make you wonder how the world would have changed if Gore had been president.

Would the United States have invaded and occupied Iraq? Would we be spending billions to try to rehabilitate that country? Would we be paying higher taxes? Would we be burdened with such a large federal debt? And how would Gore have handled the terrorist attacks of 2001?

We do know that Gore’s reputation has improved considerably over the years, much like Jimmy Carter’s rise in stature after what was considered a pitiful presidency.

You might say Gore has gotten his revenge. He has become a venerated figure, at least in some circles, while historians earnestly debate whether Bush is the worst president in history.

October 12, 2007

Bush bashers throw unwelcoming party

> Posted by William Gibson on October 12, 2007 12:01 AM

President Bush comes to South Florida this morning, and there to greet him with less than a hearty welcome will be a couple of South Florida Democrats in Congress along with some discontented parents and children.

The greeting party will chide Bush for vetoing a bill passed by Congress to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides federal funding to help cover uninsured children in lower-income families.

It just shows you can get out of Washington, but you can never escape its controversies if you are president of the United States.

The Bush bashers actually will keep a safe distance, about 10 minutes away from Bush’s speech on trade policy to an invitation-only crowd at the Radisson Miami Hotel on Biscayne Boulevard.

The disgusted children, parents and U.S. House members Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Ron Klein will gather at the Miami Beach Community Health Center to decry his veto of the SCHIP bill.

Their rally and press conference are part of an intense lobbying campaign to override the veto. Backers say the bill would plug a big gap in the nation’s health-care system and cover an additional 230,000 uninsured children in Florida.

Bush and many Republicans in Congress say they support SCHIP but want to focus resources on the neediest children rather than spend taxpayer money subsidizing health care for middle-class families.

Some Republicans who support the bill say Democrats could round up enough votes to override the veto if they just compromise a bit by accepting a few modest changes. These same Republicans wonder whether Democrats would rather make political hay than get something accomplished.

Democrats say they have compromised enough already to get the bill through Congress. They have girded themselves for battle, and the Miami Beach demonstration is just one of many skirmishes.

Labor unions and advocacy groups have launched an advertising campaign to pressure wavering members, and grass-roots rallies have been planned around the country.

October 11, 2007

Social Security `reform’ rears up again

> Posted by William Gibson on October 11, 2007 12:01 AM

Back from the grave, Social Security `reform’ has returned to the Washington agenda, at least as a talking point. This time, it does not necessarily involve investment accounts.

The Bush administration and many in Congress are increasingly alarmed about the fiscal impact when millions of Baby Boomers retire and cash in their chips over the next few decades.

Most experts think some kind of change must be made to prevent Social Security from running out of money by the time the Boomers’ children and grandchildren retire. The solution almost inevitably would require higher taxes, cuts in future benefits, a later retirement age or some combination of these unpopular options.

In the latest round, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is putting out issue briefs while nudging Congress to discuss ways to put Social Security on a sustainable path.

The administration outreach was a non-starter up to now because President Bush insisted on giving younger generations the option of diverting some of their taxes into private investment accounts, meaning stocks and bonds. Most Democrats in Congress refused to even talk about it for fear that Social Security benefits would be subject to the whims of the stock and bond markets. They also worried that diverting taxes into investment accounts would erode a program that has kept millions of senior citizens out of poverty.

``I’m not going there,’’ said Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of South Florida, who, like most Democrats, will not negotiate until the president takes ``privitization’’ off the table.

Now Bush and his people are not so insistent about including the investment option, though they still prefer it. They say they are willing to discuss most any solution to the ``crisis.’’

Evidence suggests that Social Security financing is not in crisis, nor is it a small problem easily fixed with a little tweaking. It’s one of those long-term problems with no happy solution that stretches way beyond the election cycle. It’s easily put off but will only get worse.

It cries out for a non-partisan solution, something like the deal worked out in 1983 by former Miami Congressman Claude Pepper and then-President Reagan. The liberal champion of senior citizens thrashed out a compromise with other members of a special commission. Their work led to a bill signed by Reagan, which extended the life of the program, but not nearly long enough.

The 1983 law delayed the next cost-of-living increase by six months and gradually raised the full retirement age for receiving benefits from 65 to 67. It also taxed benefits for higher-income recipients and slightly increased payroll taxes for workers paying into the system.

Pepper reluctantly accepted a trim in benefits, and Reagan swallowed a tax increase.

Compromise came hard in those days, accompanied by attacks and counter-attacks. It could be even harder now that Washington is more polarized and prone to confrontation.

Democrats may be waiting for the next president before seriously considering changing Social Security. But if either party waits too long, unpopular choices may be even more painful.

October 10, 2007

Hot air fills the capital

> Posted by William Gibson on October 10, 2007 12:01 AM

All politics is local, and you could say the same about the weather.

It might be some small comfort, nevertheless, for South Floridians to know that Washington feels your pain, or rather shares your heat and humidity. And the area surrounding the capital is starting to experience something like your water restrictions.

Temperatures are reaching record levels in the D.C. area, and drought conditions have persisted for many months. Nearly every garden and lawn is withering.

In this over-heated environment, the latest long-term forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration promises little relief.

Expect the Southeast region, including Florida, to be drier than usual with above average temperatures through the winter, NOAA says. The winter should be mild in much of the country, bad news for Florida tourism.

The forecast came at a Winter Fuels Outlook Conference in Washington on Tuesday, where participants took solace in the expectation of relatively low heating costs this winter.

Of course, NOAA also expected a busy hurricane season last year and this year, which so far has proven false.

Anyway, you can’t blame global warming, not yet. It’s just La Nina, playing her tricks with atmospheric conditions that can produce storms yet usually lead to warm and dry weather along the Eastern Seaboard.

The parched weather comes just as Congress and President Bush are fighting over a bill to authorize spending on water projects across the country, including the first construction projects for Everglades restoration. Getting the water right is the goal of the 'Glades re-plumbing job, including preserving drinking water for humans.

Drought complicates that process. Maybe experiencing it first-hand in Washington will inspire Bush and Congress to resolve their differences.

For more info on the forecast, see http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/20071009_outlook.html

October 8, 2007

Waxing political at Madame Tussauds

> Posted by William Gibson on October 8, 2007 03:26 PM

On holidays like Columbus Day, politicians and bureaucrats flee downtown Washington and turn it over to an army of tourists from Florida and all over the world.

Most come to see the Capitol and White House or to visit monuments and peruse documents, like the Declaration of Independence. But the big draw last weekend was the opening of Madame Tussauds wax museum, the Washington version of the lifelike waxworks long established in London and New York.

While jostling with the early stream of visitors, you can literally rub shoulders with famous figures, though these are especially stiff and have nothing to say. This being Washington, the new museum focuses on presidents and other political types, and at Madame Tussauds people can vote with their feet, or rather their hands.

None of the wax figures so far have been wrung by the neck, though many have had their waxy hands squeezed by over-familiar tourists. Juice was told that museum workers must keep an eye on the replica of Fidel Castro at the museum in New York, because he often gets knocked over and otherwise roughed up by visitors who object to his brand of totalitarian government.

The decision to depict Marion Barry raised eyebrows. The former D.C. mayor, ever smiling in wax, once gained worldwide notoriety through a grainy videotape showing him smoking crack cocaine during a hotel tryst with an FBI informant. More recently Barry admitted to not filing income-tax returns for five years.

But to be in Madame Tussauds, you don’t have to be saintly or politically correct, just famous.

Of course, Lincoln and Washington and FDR make a commanding presence. For those who want to commune with current figures, George W. Bush dominates one room leading toward the exit. Hillary Rodham Clinton waits nearby.

Visitors are invited to name their choice for the next president by punching their photos on a display screen. The results so far seem to track the national polls, with Clinton running ahead of the pack, though actor George Clooney, another figure in the museum, has collected more than a few votes.

How about a Clinton-Clooney ticket? Now that should liven our political discourse.

October 6, 2007

Blitz coming on children’s health program

> Posted by William Gibson on October 6, 2007 12:01 AM

We’ve seen the votes, then the veto. Now comes the public barnstorming over attempts in Congress to expand a popular children’s health program for the working poor.

You can expect a wave of ads, rallies and phone calls to Capitol Hill over the next two weeks as Democrats and their allies launch a full-fledged campaign to override President Bush’s veto of an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

``We have to flip 25 votes,’’ said Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat from Weston and a chief deputy House whip. Her job is to count and recruit votes for the Democratic majority, which is solidly behind expansion of S-Chip.

``We are going to full-court pressure to overturn the president’s veto,’’ she said.

Many Republicans also support the bill to add $35 billion over five years to cover 4 million more children, including about 210,000 in Florida.

Supporters want to cover families that are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid but not rich enough to pay for private insurance. Members of both parties see S-CHIP as a way to plug one big health-care gap in a nation with 47 million uninsured.

That’s why proponents have a chance of forming a two-thirds majority to override the veto.

The Senate passed the measure 67 to 29, with two Democrats absent, enough to override. The House passed it 265 to 159, with one member voting ``present,’’ short of a two-thirds majority. Suppporters figure they need to convert about two-dozen members, depending on how many are around to vote.

A coalition of labor unions and liberal lobbying groups, including MoveOn.org, unveiled an ad campaign on Friday to put public pressure on those who voted against the bill.

House leaders delayed a vote to override until Oct. 18 to allow time to rally the public and pummel wavering members.

Opponents, however, appear adamant, and it’s not likely that many minds will change.

``I support S-CHIP, but this is not S-CHIP, it’s S-TAX,’’ quipped Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, a Republican from Miami, who voted against expanding the program partly because it would be paid through a big tax increase on tobacco. The federal tax on cigarettes would go from 39 cents per pack to $1 per pack.

He and other opponents follow the White House line that the expanded program would cover households with income as high as $80,000 a year at a time the government faces big deficits. Supporters scoff at that projection and say the program would end up serving the working poor. Eligibility would be determined in part by the states.

The Florida delegation split along party lines in the initial voting. Here’s how Florida senators and South Florida House members voted on passage of the bill:

October 4, 2007

Even the candidates' spouses avoid Florida

> Posted by William Gibson on October 4, 2007 03:38 PM

Florida has become taboo territory for national Democrats, and now even the wives and husband of their presidential candidates are steering clear of the state.

Florida Senator Bill Nelson said he had asked his wife Grace to invite the spouses of Democratic candidates to attend the Florida Democratic Convention on Oct. 27-28. ``They all are reluctant to accept that invitation,'' Bill Nelson reported. ``This is just getting to the extreme, and ridiculous.''

It's another sign of how isolated Florida has become in Democratic circles, how much the Land of the Hanging Chad has become the Lost World of presidential politics, a taboo subject on the campaign trail through Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

To Nelson and Congressman Alcee Hastings of South Florida, it's also a sign of the national party's disenfranchisement of Florida voters, which they say is illegal.

Nelson and Hastings filed suit on Thursday in Tallahassee accusing the Democratic National Committee and its chairman Howard Dean of violating the Voting Rights Act by punishing the state party for holding its presidential primary on Jan. 29. The national party has stripped the state of all its delegates to the national nominating convention in Denver next year because it violated national party rules that set the schedule of early primaries.

Pressured to devote their attention to Iowa and New Hampshire, the candidates pledged to avoid campaigning in Florida as long as it remains under punishment by the national party.

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton got a lot of heat in Iowa for daring to campaign in Florida even before the sanctions were officially imposed. She and the other candidates have dutifully stayed away ever since.

Nelson and Hastings said the punishment denies more than 4 million Florida Democrats their right to vote, since in effect their votes won't count.

They noted that Floridians are especially sensitive to not getting their votes counted because of disputed election results in the 2000 presidential election and a 2006 congressional election in Southwest Florida, where 18,000 ballots did not register a vote in a hot House race.

``I would have hoped that we in Florida wouldn't still be talking about preserving one's right to vote 42 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, or seven years after the debacle known as the 2000 election, or less than one year after 18,000 votes somehow went missing and still are missing in Sarasota,'' Hastings said at a press conference in Washington. ``Yet we are, and that's just sad.''

Many observers had shrugged off the threat of litigation as a mere ploy to pressure the national party to relent and negotiate a deal. But Nelson and Hastings made good on their threat, and they expressed confidence that a judge in Tallahassee will order a halt to the party sanctions.

At the least, the lawsuit has escalated the tiff, just when Democrats were hoping to unite before the next election and just when Florida was hoping to interact with the candidates.

Turns out, Floridians won't see much of those candidates or even their spouses.

October 3, 2007

Veto the Everglades? Floridians protest

> Posted by William Gibson on October 3, 2007 12:27 PM

President Bush’s threatened veto of a gargantuan water-projects bill has roused objections from friends of the Everglades, including Florida Senator Mel Martinez, chairman of the Republican National Party.

Martinez urged Bush to reconsider his veto threat, warning that it jeopardizes federal spending on a massive restoration plan that the administration has long supported.

``Severe delays to Everglades’ restoration efforts will continue, and the federal-state partnership will be unfulfilled,’’ Martinez said in a letter to the White House, also signed by Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida.

A similar letter came from nine Florida Democrats in the House, led by Congressman Alcee Hastings, co-chairman of the Florida congressional delegation, who said ``nothing could be more damaging to overall restoration efforts than vetoing this bill.’’

Bush does not have a beef with the Everglades but accuses Congress of adding a bunch of questionable and expensive pet projects in other parts of the country that amount to pork-barrel spending.

The ‘Glades are trapped in this controversy, and Bush is in danger of being cast as the Bad Guy for violating a national symbol of environmental preservation.

The bill’s backers think they can override Bush’s veto, which requires a two-thirds majority vote in the House and Senate. But Bush seems to want a confrontation to highlight what he calls wasteful spending by Congress.

For Martinez, it’s a chance to show his independence of the White House even while fulfilling his duties as general chairman of the party. Martinez made clear from the day he was named to the post that he would not allow it to interfere with his role as Florida senator.

Martinez seemed a reluctant chairman from the start, and his attempts to reach out to Hispanic voters suffered from the collapse of a bill to overhaul immigration laws. The fallout sparked rumors that he may step down as general chairman once Republicans settle on a presidential nominee in late winter or early spring.

The tiff over the water bill, meanwhile, is further evidence of Republican fragmentation and the increasing isolation of the president.

Which party has the mavericks? You’d be surprised.

> Posted by William Gibson on October 3, 2007 12:01 AM

Guess what, it’s the Democrats who are following the party line this year. And it’s the Grand Old Party that is divided and undisciplined.

A compilation of roll-call votes by Congressional Quarterly reflects fragmentation among Republicans who are suffering from President Bush’s unpopularity and a string of defeats in last year’s mid-term elections.

On the other hand, Democrats, once famous for squabbling with each other, are unifying around their new majority in Congress.

The compilation shows how often each member of the House of Representatives has voted with the majority of his or her respective party. It’s a useful measure of party loyalty and also an indication of which members are relatively moderate and which are stridently liberal or conservative.

For example, Chris Shays -- a well-known moderate Republican from the liberal-leaning state of Connecticut – has voted the same as most fellow Republicans in the House only 62 percent of the time this year. By contrast, liberal Democrats Robert Wexler, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Alcee Hastings from South Florida voted with the Democratic majority 98 percent of the time.

The three Cuban-American Republicans from Miami have always tended to be more moderate than the party mainstream. Like a lot of Cuban-Americans, they are hawkish on defense and foreign policy matters and hard-line on U.S. policy toward Cuba. But on some domestic matters, they are moderate, almost liberal.

In the CQ compilation, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen voted with most fellow Republicans only 77 percent of the time this year, much less than her 89-percent party-line voting of last year. For Lincoln Diaz-Balart, it was 82 percent this year and 90 percent last year. For his brother Mario Diaz-Balart, it was 84 percent this year and 90 percent last year.

Among Democrats, South Florida produces some of the most liberal members of the House, with one clear exception: Tim Mahoney of Palm Beach Gardens.

Mahoney, a businessman who faces a tough–re-election campaign in a Republican-leaning district, likes to call himself a fiscal conservative. He has voted with the Democratic majority 83 percent of the time -- a loyal Democrat, but in moderation.

Ron Klein, another freshman from South Florida, voted with the Democratic majority 93 percent of the time. The other South Florida Democrats toed the line at least 97 percent of the time, each one at a rate slightly higher than last year’s.

These numbers give you a general idea of how your representative is voting in Congress and how he or she fits on the ideological spectrum.

For some voters, party loyalty is vital. More independent-minded voters may prefer representatives who are willing to cross the party divide in the spirit of middle-of-the-road bipartisan politics.

October 1, 2007

Walling off immigrants on schedule

> Posted by William Gibson on October 1, 2007 04:14 PM

While Congress dithers on immigration issues, the government is moving on schedule to build fences and other barriers along the Southwest border to fend off illegal arrivals.

More than 150 miles of fences had been erected by last weekend, part of 370 miles of fencing and 200 miles of vehicle barriers that are supposed to be in place by the end of next year.

Homeland Security officials tout the wall-building to show they really are serious about border enforcement. They hope to convince conservatives and Congress that the borders are secure enough to enact broader measures to allow more foreign guest-workers to meet labor needs and to give about 12 million current residents a chance to get legal.

Will walling off the border prevent illegal immigration? Many in Congress say it’s worth a try.

The determination of many people to keep crossing, even at the risk of death, and the presence of so many millions already living here illegally indicate that fences alone may not be enough.

A surprising number of people crossing the Southwest border are headed for Florida, a recent trip to Arizona revealed.

While visiting the region as part of a journalism fellowship sponsored by the University of Arizona, I talked with some of the migrants massed along the Mexican side. More than a few said they had heard about jobs at construction sites and restaurants around Naples in booming southwest Florida.

One group already had traveled hundreds of miles from Chiapas, an impoverished part of southern Mexico, to reach the Arizona border. Some had been caught trying to cross and were determined to try again.

Most of those who try to sneak across pay exorbitant fees to take a teeth-rattling trip in the back of a pickup truck to isolated stretches along the border, where they clamber down to begin a four-day walk across the desert.

Those who make it to safe haven on the Arizona side pile onto another set of trucks run by ``labor contractors,’’ who haul the human cargo to California, Texas or along the Gulf Coast into Florida.

Many Arizona residents are alarmed by this human traffic, while others are appalled that the government blocks people who in past times crossed by less dangerous means, much like commuters. Those days are long gone.

One major complaint is that all this fencing and enforcement damages the environment. But Michael Chertoff, secretary of homeland security, told the Associated Press on Monday it may actually help.

``Illegal migrants really degrade the environment. I've seen pictures of human waste, garbage, discarded bottles and other human artifact in pristine areas,'' Chertoff said. ``And believe me, that is the worst thing you can do to the environment.''

I walked some of the trails taken by migrants and saw remains of a different kind: crucifixes, family photographs, bits of clothing and rude stick shelters to ward off the blistering sun by day and cold by night. Sometimes the Border Patrol or human-rights volunteers will find humans dead or alive.

Marie Kessler, a young volunteer with a group called No More Deaths, remembered finding Luciano, a middle-aged Mexican with two bad knees who had been left behind by fellow travelers.

"His dress shoes had fallen apart, and his feet were in awful shape. He said he was going to Florida, where he has a brother and some other family,’’ she told me. ``Most people I find have made many trips to and from Mexico, but they are separated from their families now that the border is so closely guarded. Now they have to cross the desert."

While Congress waits and debates, some people are voting with their feet.

WILLIAM E. GIBSON, the Sun Sentinel’s Washington correspondent for 27 years, has covered seven presidential elections and 14 sessions of Congress, always with South Florida readers in mind.

Originally from the Kansas City area, he lived in New Mexico, New York and Fort Lauderdale before moving to Washington. Along the way, he studied journalism at the University of Kansas and Columbia University.